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GitWorkflowProductivity
March 12, 2025

A Git Workflow That Works for Solo Developers

You do not need GitFlow as a solo developer. Here is a simpler workflow that keeps your history clean and your deployments safe.

The Problem with GitFlow

GitFlow was designed for teams. As a solo developer, maintaining develop, feature, release, and hotfix branches is pure overhead. You need something simpler.

My Workflow

  • main is always deployable
  • Feature work happens on short-lived branches
  • Commits are squashed before merging
  • Tags mark releases
  • That is it

Commit Messages Matter

I follow conventional commits: feat:, fix:, docs:, refactor:. This makes the Git log readable and enables automated changelog generation.

The Power of Interactive Rebase

Before merging any branch, I run git rebase -i to clean up the history. Squash the WIP commits, reword the messages, and ensure each commit tells a clear story.

Automate Deployment

A push to main triggers deployment. No manual steps, no approval gates for personal projects. If the tests pass, it ships.

Written by

Shyam